Freshman Trio Stakes Stanford Women To Lead After Opening Day Of Speedo Cup

LOS ANGELES, November 18. THE Stanford freshman trio of Caroline Bruce, Brooke Bishop and Elizabeth Durot staked Stanford to a lead after the opening day of the short-course yards 2004 Speedo Cup being hosted by UC Irvine at the Belmont Plaza Pool.

Stanford scored 499.5 points in the five events contested on the first of three days competition Thursday to post a comfortable lead over its closest competition, Oregon State, which tallied 336 points. Sixteen teams are competing in the meet.

"It bodes well both for the future of our program and for this year to have our freshmen performing so well," said Stanford head coach Richard Quick. "We know the veterans are going to be there and do a good job when we get to the NCAA level, but to also have three freshman stepping up it means you're moving in the right direction. I'm really pleased with our freshman. They can make a real difference not only in the future but in this year's team."

Bruce recorded an NCAA "A" qualifying time in her third individual event this season by clocking in with a personal-best time of 2:00.44 to win the 200 IM.

Oregon State, under new head coach Larry Liebowitz, won two events. The 200 yard freestyle relay clocked 1:33.77 to win handily, while Courtney Eads took the 500 free in 4:45.91, an NCAA "B" time, in a tight duel with Stanford's Durot.

Durot also picked up an NCAA "B" time when she finished the 500 free in 4:46.00, coming in just .09 seconds behind Eads. Desiree Stahley came in third in the event for the Cardinal and also recorded a NCAA "B" time of 4:52.35.

Davis earned an NCAA "B" mark with a time of 2:02.17 in her second-place finish behind Bruce in the 200 IM.

The 2004 Speedo Cup will continue on Friday and Saturday with prelims slated to begin each day at 8:30 am, PST, and the finals session starting at 6:00 pm. Stanford is scheduled only to compete through Saturday's prelim round.